CATCH-22 (RESULTS)

Good morning. I hope you had a good weekend.

Last Tuesday I asked for translations for the English expression Catch-22 (catch twenty-two) because I had never been satisfied with the "typical" translations that I knew: La pescadilla/el pez que se muerde la cola (or el peix que es mossega la cua in Catalan) and círculo vicioso.

First of all, thank you very much for your kind emails and very interesting explanations. We received over 100 emails, and after reading them all very carefully, I have come to the conclusion that those "typical" translations must be the best ones. Following is a summary of the voting.  

THE RESULTS
La pescadilla/el pez que se muerde la cola --> 75 votes
Variations:
El gato que se muerde la cola
El perro que se muerde la cola

Callejón/Situación sin salida --> 21 votes
Variations:
Atzucac (in Catalan) --> 7 votes

Un círculo vicioso --> 20 votes
Variations:
Un círculo cerrado

Deadlock --> 3 votes
Variations:
Abrazo mortal
Una situación de bloqueo

Cul-de-sac --> 2 votes

¿Qué fue antes...el huevo o la gallina? --> 2 votes

OTHER SUGGESTIONS (only 1 vote)
-Zugzwang
-Laberinto sin salida
-Luchar contra molinos
-Bucle
-Un arma de doble filo
-Entre dos aguas
-Nudo Gordiano
-Sales de Guatemala y te metes en Guatepeor
-Salir de la sartén al fuego
-Entre la espada y la pared

At 8:11 AM I received an email from Beatriz Guadalajara with the answer la pescadilla que se muerde la cola and at 8:13 AM the same expression from Jaume Palau, but in Catalan (un peix que es mossega la cua). At 8:18 AM Eduard Estrada sent an email with two suggestions: un círculo vicioso or un pez que se muerde la cola. We have decided to award all three of these people a six-month subscription to the Daily Vitamin Plus!, since they were the first three (and all their messages arrived more or less at the same time).

Thanks again for your participation. have a great day!